A friendly asylum for a couple of crazy DC-area women's basketball fans, where we share some news, some opinions, as well as a little of almost anything else that our demented minds dredge up having to do with the WNBA, the Maryland Terrapins, or any other team, player or character associated with the world of women's hoops.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Signings

While the Mystics management continues to drop teasers about next Tuesday's big name free agent signing, the Tulsa Shock this week pulled out all the stops to announce a signing of their own -- the signing of Marion Jones to a training camp contract.

Yes, thatMarion Jones. The convicted felon who was stripped of her Olympic gold medals, and whose conduct caused her teammates to be stripped of theirs as well. ThatMarion Jones. Who, yes, played basketball in college, helping lead the Tar Heels to a National Championship in 1994, but who hasn't played competitive basketball in about a dozen years.

Marion Jones has served her time, and is certainly entitled to a job and to a second chance. We believe that. We hope that she has turned a new page in her life and hope she has a bright future ahead of her. As for whether she truly has the skills to play in the WNBA (particularly after all this time away from the court), well, that's Tulsa's call.

We're not upset that Tulsa is giving Marion an opportunity to prove herself, but we admit to being a bit troubled by all the hoopla given to her signing a WNBA training camp contract. Not only did Tulsa hold a press conference to announce Marion's signing, but WNBA President Donna Orender was on hand for the occasion and proclaimed that Marion Jones is

"clearly a global figure, who people are interested in. Having somebody like that associated with our league is positive.”

Postive? Really? Just look at the title of the New York Times article in which the above quote appeared: "Jones, Disgraced Sprinter, is Joining the WNBA." What Marion Jones did was no little thing. Ask her Olympic teammates. We can only guess that by "positive," Donna O meant that the signing would bring a flood of media attention to the League (whichit did) and that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Well . . . that's debatable.

Since Donna O is making the rounds of free agent signings, we hope to see her at the Verizon Center on Tuesday for the Mystics' big announcement. By all accounts, that signing will be a positive one . . . and it won't be just a training camp contract, either. According to an on-line article posted Friday by Milton Kent (formerly of the Baltimore Sun), "[Katie]Smith is believed poised to sign with the Washington Mystics."

That information certainly squares with all the message board chatter about who the Mystics are about to sign. In fact, yesterday, the Mystics' own web site had a reminder of the upcoming "Big Announcement," accompanied by a blacked out picture of the "mystery free agent" whose silhouette looked just like Katie. In fact, the graphic looked exactly like a blacked out mirror image of this actual photo of Katiehere (and a big shout out to message board poster "speedracer" for the eagle eye on this one). It seems as though someone in the Mystics' front office had fun this week with Photoshop! The Mystics' image was taken down yesterday evening, so if you missed it, sorry!

If it's not Katie, well, the Mystics have done a great job of disinformation, and the laugh will be on us! But if it is Katie, then Washington will be getting a player who earned her Olympic gold medals fair and square. Donna O . . . hope to see you on Tuesday. Come celebrate with us.

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Monday Morning Update: The Mystics have announced that Tuesday's 1:00 PM press conference will be streamed live on line. Also, they've layered a screen over their home page containing the blacked out photo they had up last week. Compare it with the real photo of Katiehere, and see what you think!

Yeah, you're right BasketCases, that silhoutte is definitley the flipped image of Katie Smith. Not really thrilled about her signing. Where will she fit in? Not to mention we're in serious need of a center. Would be great if we can trade up and snag Tina Charles. Or trade our draft pick and some players (Sanford, Ajavon and Currie) for a young established center such as Sandra Grudin or Erika De Souza. By the way, WHY ON EARTH DID THE MYSTICS RESIGN CURRIE?!!!!

No way anyone is getting Tina Charles except CT. I think we just signed a center...Laura Ervin or something. Not sure why we resigned Mo Currie either. Maybe for her defense? It certainly wasn't for her offense. I think Katie Smith would be a great backup for LH. Katie is an upgrade over Nickie Blue and Kristie Haynie.

Given the fact that Katie had been hanging around DC quite a bit near the end of last season and a few other coincidences, the silouette does make today's presser anti-climatic. But, if she's healthy and still has some gas left in the tank, I'll take her any day! Welcome aboard, Katie! But, like the earlier poster, I must ask why did we re-sign Currie?

First of all, opinions differ about whether Mo has a place on the Mystics roster. But regardless of your opinion, why would anyone simply allow a player to walk away for nothing, when the potential exists for her to be used in a trade? In our opinion, not re-signing Mo would have been a serious error.

Yes, Currie could be very useful as trade bait. But as "Stewart" pointed out, she was signed to a (relatively) long term deal. Monique Currie is yet to show why she was selected number 3 OVERALL in the '06 draft. For the record, Sophia Young (Silver Stars) was selected 4th and Candice Dupree (Sky) was selected 6th. Look at the impact those two have made on their respective teams!At the end of the day, I still insist we need a center. If we can't trade up (we can always pray) and get Tina Charles then we'll probably settle for Jayne Appel, whom I'm not too sold on in regards to transitioning to the pro level. Oh well... GO MYSTICS!!!

Yes, Currie could be very useful as trade bait. But as "Stewart" pointed out, she was signed to a (relatively) long term deal. Monique Currie is yet to show why she was selected number 3 OVERALL in the '06 draft. For the record, Sophia Young (Silver Stars) was selected 4th and Candice Dupree (Sky) was selected 6th. Look at the impact those two have made on their respective teams!At the end of the day, I still insist we need a center. If we can't trade up (we can always pray) and get Tina Charles then we'll probably settle for Jayne Appel, whom I'm not too sold on in regards to transitioning to the pro level. Oh well... GO MYSTICS!!!